Author: Joules

Reviewing Zamzee: Will it Help Me Be More Active?

I’m going to be honest with you guys. My Get in Shape, Girl workout isn’t going so well. I can blame it on all the random traveling I’ve done lately (vacation = excuse to eat whatever the heck I want), but it really just comes down to the fact that I’m lazy and prefer food that is bad for me.

Meet my Zamzee dude — so dapper in orange!

I mean, that’s pretty much everyone’s issue, right?

So I was looking for ways to bribe myself into thinking exercise is fun. Which as you can imagine is pretty hard to do when you work full-time and have a 6 month old.* However, when I was at BlogHer 2012 I found this cute little guy.

He is the spokes-dude(?) for Zamzee. I hadn’t ever heard of Zamzee before that day but I was given the opportunity to try it out for free. So I figured, why not?

Zamzee is an activity meter that you clip to yourself, much like a pedometer. However, instead of just counting your steps, the meter measures the intensity of your activity. The Zamzee is designed for kids, with the goal of enticing them to get more physically active. There is even a website specially designed for kids and tweens that helps track their progress and has fun activity-based games.

Obviously, I’m not a kid anymore but I decided to give it a try. And honestly, I thought this little meter was pretty cool. Instead of getting obsessive over steps walked and calories burned, it was actually kind of fun to do activities and see how many Pointz I accumulated (yes, they’re called Pointz… which is what the cool kids are into these days. Or is it, kidz and dayz?). You can just plug the meter into your computer and the Pointz get uploaded into your account. Super easy! And I like earning Pointz – it’s kind of like earning a gold star!

This is what a zamzee looks like, mine is black. (Source: zamzee.com)

I wore the Zamzee to my Stroller Strides class last week and tried to push it** extra hard to earn some additional points. I’ve also been wearing the meter to work each day, which is awesome because it gives me a reason to get off my butt. After I’ve been sitting at the computer for a couple hours I click on the website and pick a challenge. Typically for a challenge, I’ll get out of my office for 5 minutes and just do a quick loop around my building. Sometimes, I close my door and bust a move to earn Pointz. And yes, I totally did this last week.

Zamzee is currently in beta, with about 5,000 users and is expected to launch in the Fall. However, the beta program is currently open to the public and you can purchase a meter for $29.95 plus shipping (there is no monthly cost).

Why buy one when I can give you one for free? That’s right I have a brand new meter to give away to my awesome readers!

I’ve never done a giveaway on my blog before, so this is pretty fun stuff. In fact, I’m almost drunk with power. MooHAHA***

So here’s what you have to do to enter the contest: Leave me a comment on this blog post or on the Pocketful of Joules Facebook page that includes the word “Zamzee” somewhere in the text. I will print out the names of everyone who enters and randomly pick a winner. Let’s do one entry per person, per platform – so you are welcome to enter both on my blog AND my Facebook page. The giveaway closes at noon on September 6, 2012. So get your comments in!

 * Excuses, excuses! Do you see what I’m dealing with here??!!

** Push it REAL GOOD… now that song is in my head!

*** That’s my drunk with power laugh. Duh. It’s like in that episode of Friends where I think Ross was doing an evil laugh – there was some sort of blackout and he did his laugh and the lights came back on and Rachel was kissing someone. I can’t find the clip on youtube, but I’m pretty sure it happened in reality and not in my head.

Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this post, but I was given a free Zamzee to review. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own and I would never write about or review something unless I actually liked it!

9/6 Update: This contest is now closed. The winner, according to the Random Numbers Generator at random.org is…. Just Keep Swimming! She can now be one of the cool kids with her very own Zamzee!

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THUNDER JEEP!

I listen to music a lot.

Well, pretty much all day long actually. I flip back and forth between radio stations on my daily commute (usually 1 – 1 ½ hours each way) and listen to my iPod or Pandora while sitting at my desk.

I hear lots and lots and lots of songs, and pretty much mess up most of the lyrics when singing along. Honestly, it would be rare for me to actually know the words all the way through a song – even if it’s my favorite song or my favorite band singing it.

Most of the time the words turn into some sort of zoobee zoobee, thanks to my husband. However, I have a few songs that I mishear on purpose simply because I like my version better. I’ve even secretly brainwashed Travis, so now he sings my version too. {insert evil laugh here}

Here are three songs I’ve improved with new lyrics:

Lights by Ellie Goulding
During the breathy part where she sings “lights, lights, lights” over and over, I like to sing “mice” instead… try it, its fun!

Armageddon It by Def Leppard
I don’t know why, but when I couldn’t understand what they said at the chorus I guessed that they were saying “I’m a Girlie Man” instead of what they’re apparently actually saying, “Armgeddon It.” Needless to say, I like my version much better.

Dirty Deeds by AC/DC
Here’s another example of my brain filling in words I couldn’t quite hear… and me liking my version better. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” totally sounds like “Dirty Deeds, THUNDER JEEP!” So much more fun! And obviously if you’re going to be doing dirty deeds, it helps to have a badass Thunder Jeep around.

Anyways, I have a feeling I’m not the only one out there that does this! What songs do you sing with your own made up lyrics?

 

Trusting Your Gut

I hate to be the bad guy.

I typically try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Many times it has served me well and a few times it has come back to bite me in the butt.

For those new to my blog, you’ll need to know that my son was born two months early. We had just moved a couple weeks prior and then, boom shacka lacka, the baby came. Which is awesome, except for the fact that we hadn’t really figured out childcare yet.

I mean, we knew that my mom was going to watch Jack three days a week and my husband was going to watch him one day a week. The original plan was for me to stay home one day a week, but the whole losing my job and getting a new one messed that up.

So we needed someone for just one day each week, which is really hard to find. Childcare providers are only allowed a certain number of infants, so they prefer to watch them more often in order to make the most money.

We lucked out though and found out about a lady just 10 minutes from our house. She was best friends with my mom’s cousin (who also previously did childcare) and had over 20 years of experience. Let’s call her Betty for the rest of the story so that we can keep things straight.

Well, when I spoke to Betty on the phone she sounded great. She seemed super nice and even had an infant spot available on Friday’s starting with the school year.

My first call to her was in May, even though we didn’t really need her until August. Betty and I agreed to touch base again in early-June, since her May was insanely busy. Well, June turned into July, which then turned into early-August, due to random issues. No big deal.

Well, our first two appointments we set up in August were cancelled because her daughter went into labor and had some complications (understandable). The next two appointments were cancelled because one of the children was sick who then infected the other kids (also understandable). Yesterday’s appointment was cancelled because she forgot she had other plans (um, okay).

All of these things I can forgive – I mean, I’m a busy girl too and I certainly was appreciative of her warning me about the flu germs before I showed up with Jack. The problem is that she is scheduled to start watching my son NEXT FRIDAY and I still hadn’t met her in person.

Which brings us to today.

I had an appointment to come by her house today at 11:00 am. I showed up on time and she greeted me at the door. She was super nice in person. The three children she was watching were (mostly) well behaved. She held Jack and made him laugh hysterically. Throughout our hour-long conversation, I even agreed with her on many of her childcare philosophies.

Sounds perfect, right?

Well, it would have been if not for one little thing…I think Betty is a hoarder.

There was stuff everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I don’t mean a little sprinkled here and there. I mean the place was PACKED. She mentioned in passing that she was consigning a few things, but as I was given the ‘tour’ into each room I realized that there was NO WAY that all this stuff was waiting to be donated.

Now, I know I sound a bit like a snob complaining that the place wasn’t as neat and clean as I would have liked it. And I am admittedly a bit of a neat freak and keep my space as clutter-free as possible. However, let me assure you that this was NOT normal clutter.

It looked like Toys R’ Us exploded in her house. Every single room had stacks and stacks and stacks of children’s toys and books. And when I say stacks, imagine that there is a clear area in the center of the room and every other area is FILLED with toys.

There was absolutely no room for the kids to run and play…or even walk and play. There was hardly any room at all.

Betty didn’t seem too concerned with the mess, so I tried to tell myself that I was just overreacting. We planned for me to drop Jack off next Friday and I went on my merry way.

As I was driving up the street, the horror set in. The conversation in my head went something like this:

Devil Julie: “The place is gross.”
Angel Julie: “Well, maybe she just has a lot to be consigned.”

Devil Julie: “Hoarder, hoarder, hoarder!!”
Angel Julie: “Jack doesn’t crawl or walk yet, so maybe we can try it out for a month and see how it goes.”

Devil Julie: “You can’t make me go back there!”
Angel Julie: “I already committed to have Jack go there. I don’t want to be the bad guy.”

Devil Julie: “NO WAY! There isn’t even room for Jack to crawl around! And how clean can the place really be with all that stuff? And what if a pile falls on him and he gets CRUSHED BY TOYS?”
Angel Julie: “Shit. You’re right”

When I got home I called both my husband and my mom to see if I was just being crazy. After hearing about the situation, my mom totally saved the day by offering to watch Jack for an additional day each week. We’ll continue looking for other childcare options; however we all realize that it’s possible we might not find anything until Jack is considered a toddler in February.

So now I have the unpleasant task of being the bad guy. I have to call Betty and tell her that we won’t be using her for childcare after all. It’s going to be awkward and I’m totally dreading the call.

Here’s a question for you all, should I tell her the real reason we changed our mind?